Calgary animal welfare groups facing low donations, high pet surrenders

The higher cost of food, gas, and housing means donations at Calgary animal rescue organizations are down while at the same time, pet surrenders are up.

Deanna Thompson, executive director at Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS) tells CityNews more people are going back to work and giving up their animals because they don’t have time for them or they can’t afford them anymore.

On top of that, the organization is dealing with a spike in veterinarian bills due to an outbreak of distemper that’s killed at least two puppies. Thompson says the illness was brought into the shelter by unvaccinated dogs from a rural area where access to vets is even tougher.

“All of those sort of things are snowballing and we desperately need help from the public, whether it be volunteering, fostering, donating, sharing on social media, anything like that that might help get some attention to these really deserving animals that need help,” said Thompson.

Thompson adds several Calgary vets are busy due to the ongoing veterinarian shortage, and they often can’t afford to help or they don’t have time.

“They’re swamped, you know, we appreciate so much what the vet community is doing but they are swamped,” Thompson said. “They are understaffed and it’s hard to get appointments. Four-hour waits at emergencies or more. We’ve been turned away… by clinics that could not help us with an emergency, there really is a lot going on within animal welfare that is difficult for both animal welfare organizations like ours and individual pet owners — that ability to access veterinary care is a struggle.”

READ MORE:

• Alberta animal rescue group overwhelmed by dogs and cats in rural areas, raising funds

• Calgary bird lovers are now allowed to become licensed pigeon owners

• Animal Rescue Society bring puppy love to Anderson C-train station

  ---

She adds animal rescues in Calgary are facing a perfect storm.

“We don’t know what the answer is, but we’re continuing the good fight every day and hope that maybe this is just a little blip on the radar and not something here to stay. But right now, we’re just trying to help as many animals as we can,” Thompson said.

Weston Jacques, communications director at the Calgary Humane Society says their organization is also at capacity and is having difficulty with fundraising.

“The price of everything seems to be going up, so it is a different world where we’re kind of seeing people being a little bit more strategic with their dollars and the charities that they’re choosing to support,” said Jacques.

He adds the Humane Society relies solely on fundraising and revenue is down from last year.

Shelters are also dealing with another side effect of people going back to work.

It means there are fewer volunteers and fewer homes that can foster animals.

Anyone who can foster, volunteer or donate is invited to reach out to help to either AARCS or the Calgary Humane Society.